Lot No: 53

William Crozier HRHA (b.1930)

THE RIVER IN THE WOOD, 1991

Published Estimate: €10000-15000
Price Realised: €12000

signed lower left
oil on canvas
70 by 61cm., 27.5 by 24in.



In River in a Wood (lot 53) the central motif of the river opens up the vista to give a sense of distance and movement. This sense of space is however curtailed by the extreme flattening of the composition. Crozier brings to his depiction of the Irish landscape a refreshing objectivity, as if it has been seen for the first time. The dramatic red of the trees and the vibrant yellow and blue of the grass and river reveal the exoticism and luminosity of the scenery. Painted in the studio from memory his work becomes a kind of pure landscape of possibility and freedom. Not tied down to topographical detail, Crozier’s work makes a universal statement on the wildness and beauty of nature.

Dr. Roisin Kennedy,

May, 2010